A variety of surgical devices, such as instrument positioners, limb positioners, stirrups, and drape screens, are routinely attached to OR (operating room) tables during surgical procedures. To support such surgical devices, OR tables are generally provided with rails on either side of the table, extending along the length of the table. The rails are generally of a common configuration and dimension (e.g., commonly having a rectangular cross-section of 1⅛″ by ⅜″ in the U.S.), but are not typically manufactured and maintained with tight dimensional tolerances that are amenable to quick-attachment mechanisms.
Typically, each surgical device is provided with a rail clamp configured to clamp on to the OR table rail at a position determined by the needs of the medical practitioner (e.g., a surgeon). Using the rail clamp, the surgical device is attached to a rail prior to or at the beginning of each surgical procedure, and removed again after the surgical procedure is completed.
Typical rail clamps are provided with a threaded hand-screw that is manually turned to clamp the rail clamp onto a rail. The screw may be configured to actuate directly into contact with the rail in opposition to a fixed portion of the clamp (thereby clamping on the rail), or it may be used to actuate a movable portion of a clamp mechanism in opposition to a fixed portion of the clamp to clamp on the rail. The hand-screw may be provided any of a variety of head shapes intended to simplify the task of repeatedly turning the hand-screw.
The various threaded screw designs typically provide for a rail clamp to be opened and closed with enough motion to allow adequate clearance for placement onto and removal from a rail. Moreover, the threaded screw designs typically provide for a rail clamp that can firmly lock onto a rail manufactured with loose tolerances (i.e., that can vary significantly in size). Nevertheless, such rail clamp designs require a user to hold the surgical device in place with one hand while doing extensive manual screw-turning with the other. Thus, such rail clamp mechanisms can be cumbersome and time consuming to affix to an OR table.
Accordingly, there has existed a need for a simple, ergonomic device for quickly and removably affixing a surgical device to a table. More particularly, there has existed a need for a clamp that provides a user with the ability to easily and quickly engage and disengage the surgical device from an OR table rail, that provides sufficient mechanical fixation to react the multidirectional forces to which it may be subjected, that provides for the position of the surgical device to be easily adjusted, and that does so for OR table rails characterized by dimensions that can deviate from tight tolerances, such as is typical for a surgical table rail. Preferred embodiments of the present invention satisfy these and other needs, and provide further related advantages.